Category: the writing life

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Sincerely, what else can I do for you?

I’ve learned most about writing fiction from reading fiction, especially that of William Goldman. More than likely, you know his screenplays, most famously The Princess Bride. His novels are sublime and are now largely ignored as people favor the film medium. That guy sure knew how to delight with unexpected yet inevitable surprises.

For influences, I also have to name-check Stephen King for his dialogue and character work and Blake Crouch for pacing.

But this post isn’t about brilliant writing. I want to hear from you.

This post is about what else readers want, what you want.

It is startling how much work a publisher and author can put into promoting their books and still fail to move the needle. Our focus is pulled in many directions. The attention economy is fragmented. Marketing gurus insist an author newsletter is paramount, but very few people seem to read them. I’ve got a bunch of old subscriptions to newsletters sitting in my inbox. I will never get to them. Their appeal feels dated now.

What can I give you besides a great story and hours and hours of inexpensive entertainment?

  • A revered teacher once said, “You know what people want? Everything yesterday, through the mail, for free.” That’s a high bar to meet for a micro-business, but there are free promotions. To launch the book, some readers will pick up freebies (hopefully to read, love, and review). I’ll apply for a Bookbub promotion and set up various giveaways to prime the algorithms and get reviews.
  • Audiobooks. That’s on my radar, and I do have a home studio. So far, I’ve only used the blanket fort for podcast interviews. However, I feel Endemic and Vengeance Is Hers need a female narrator, not my voice. It’s an expensive proposition with no guarantee of remuneration, but of course, that’s true of any enterprise. It’s a question of making the budget work while calculating the risks.
  • Merch. I’ve got T-shirts and bookmarks in the works. This is not usually a major factor, but I plan to sell a lot of my books in person in 2025, so extras are a sweet idea.
  • Special editions. Because I’m shipping from Canada and most of my readers are American, I haven’t seriously explored this before. However, with in-person selling, I see the value in making some of my books extra special. For select hardcovers, I plan to add ribbon bookmarks and painted book edges.
  • Social proof. When seeking validation, authors always think of reviews first, and they aren’t wrong. The more reviews a book gets, the more it pushes the online stores’ algorithms. Readers read reviews to make buying decisions. Mass mailings to Booktubers and Booktok folks can be prohibitively expensive. There’s still Bookfunnel for free review copies, but unless the reviewer can hold up your book on social media, it’s less impactful.
  • Awards. Some authors question their value, but it’s one more subtle way to reassure readers they are in good hands. I’ve won fifteen awards for my writing. Does that help? It doesn’t hurt to quote a third party’s enthusiasm when hyping a book. (Not all awards are created equal, but that’s a different post.)
  • Engagement. One of the joys of my life comes daily as I talk with readers who have become fans and friends. I post on social media, but the core group is Fans of Robert Chazz Chute on Facebook. As I worked to recover from two hip replacements last year, I got a lot of love, sympathy, and support there. That went far beyond what I could do for them as fans of my work.

Writing a novel is difficult. Finding readers is much harder.

It’s easy to overspend on marketing that goes nowhere. You can write a great book, but too often, it gets lost in the deluge. There are a hundred variables outside of the writer’s control. Hundreds of marketing companies and PR firms promise the world. Marketing gurus say they possess the special sauce or magic secret. None of them admit that luck and timing play a huge role in what ranks.

My dad was successful in business, and he often said something I hated. “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” I hated it most because (a) I’m an introvert pretending to be an extrovert, and (b) I suspect he was right. For instance, it seems the hosts of Slate podcasts will interview authors as long as the guest is a sister, mentor, someone they went to school with, or mentee. Incessant logrolling is strong with the elite, and I’m not in that club.

Note the sincere face as I ask this.

What can I give you?

I didn’t write this post to whine. I’m asking you, as a reader, what do you value? Endemic won multiple awards. This Plague of Days is a best-selling zombie apocalypse novel. Citizen Second Class is trenchant and relevant to our times. My crime fiction (The Hit Man Series and The Night Man) is both knuckly and funny. Besides offering compelling novels with surprising twists, heart, and action, what grabs your attention?

My team and I are working hard to make Vengeance Is Hers a great story. What else can I do to become one of your favorite authors?

Check out all my books using this universal Amazon link:

http://author.to/RobertChazzChute

The Night Man cover
Citizen Second Class
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This is my first novel with a disclaimer

My next novel, Vengeance Is Hers. is packed with ways to wreak vengeance upon your many, many enemies! May righteous vengeance be yours!
But wait there’s more (and caveats)!


As previously stated (see previous blog post), I have a problem with forgive and forget. Forgiveness is nice in theory, and it’s good for you, of course. Without contrition from the offender, however, I fear this high-minded principle turns people pleasers into doormats.


As for forgetting? What? Like a lobotomy? I have an excellent memory, and I know what you did!

The novel kicks off with a disclaimer for all my well-researched mayhem:

This is not an instruction manual.

All acts of vengeance detailed herein were performed by fictional trained sociopaths.

Do not attempt.

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Crime Thrillers are a Different Kind of Apocalypse

I’m happy to be working on a thriller about vigilante justice (see the post below). The apocalyptic genre has much cooled. This Plague of Days provides many solid tips for doomsday preppers, but fewer readers are inclined to read end-of-the-world stories when they fear they’re about to actually experience them.

If you enjoyed my apocalyptic works (TPOD, AFTER Life, Citizen Second Class, Robot Planet), you’ll still groove on Vengeance Is Hers. Besides retaining my voice and sense of humor, all my writing is about societal failure and seeking safety. My crime fiction is about finding ways to deal with suspenseful chaos (as seen in Bigger Than Jesus, Higher Than Jesus, Hollywood Jesus, Resurrection, and The Night Man). Whatever I write, you’ll get a dab of hope and a bunch of heart in the end.

But about those end-of-the-world scenarios outside your window

While immunologists worry about H1N1 jumping species to humans, RFK wants to freeze immunization research and remove mandates for common vaccines (which is absolutely not how herd immunity works). He thinks the solution to depression is simply to send the afflicted to farms where they have no access to processed food.

Last night, Bill Maher hosted a Stanford-educated doctor who claims med school taught her nothing valuable and that eliminating processed foods is the answer to all metabolic problems. So, “Doctor,” aside from the problematic classism in that stance, you’re telling me that RFK has all the answers, and Trump supporters everywhere will breathe a sigh of relief when you take away all their hamberders?

There was one powerful person who advocated healthy eating, and they condemned her as a fascist. Remember? Her name is Michelle Obama.

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Writing Again!

Behold! Me, dithering endlessly over word choices at my local coffee shop.

For years, I struggled with insomnia. Exhausted after maybe six hours of fitful sleep, my busy night brain interfered with each day’s productivity. Sleep hygiene didn’t really work. Sleepy teas and warm milk? Nope! New pillows? Nah. What has helped me most to get nine hours of sleep each night is THC + CBD + Zoplicone (a prescription sleeping pill.) Working alone, the prescription didn’t work, but between that and visits to the dispensary, I’m finally back on track.

I’m working away on a fresh draft of She Once Made a Man Swallow a Key. Stay tuned, and in the meantime, please do give my many other books a try.

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How 2023 kicked my ass (and what I’m doing about it)

Two hip replacements in a single year is no joke, but I am improving and a new novel is coming. Here’s my path back to health and happy productivity in 2024.

In less than a week, I have a follow-up appointment with my surgeon to confirm my recovery is on track. My physio is optimistic and enthused, but then, she is always incredibly upbeat. We are quite the contrast. She’s energetic, and I’m the grumpy old man from Up. I need to change some things, but short of a personality transplant, how?

I have some ideas (and the last one is probably the best)

  • I used to treat people with various pain conditions. I know the rehabilitation process. However, I’m impatient. Particularly on bad pain days, I must remind myself to simply do the exercises without being so attached to results. Rehabilitation of injuries is a little like writing a first draft. I have to trust the process.
  • Particularly after a terrible night’s sleep, I am exhausted of being me. I feel trapped in my body so I have to be gentler with myself. I could worry more, but would it help? I put my head down, have a rest, and do the exercises. It will all work out. Like tinkering with a manuscript, it all works out given enough time. “Enough time” is usually more than I would have hoped.
  • As a chronic insomniac with a busy brain, I don’t panic about missing a night’s sleep anymore. Instead, I sleep when I sleep. Nobody shakes off a double hip replacement in one year easily. When I feel a nap coming for me, I don’t fight it.
  • We can terrorize ourselves with shoulds. I should do more. I should do this, I should do that. But I can’t do it all and I certainly can’t do it all right now. What’s left? Acceptance.
  • Self-care takes many forms. Sometimes it’s a treat, a nap, a ride in the car just to get outside, chatting with a friend on the phone, or giving up for the day.
  • Medications, as needed. Right now, that’s usually nothing more than Aspirin, but sometimes it’s Lorazepam.
  • Once I’m cleared for more exercise, I’m looking forward to that outlet. The aims are to get my cardiovascular fitness back, improve my strength and achieve a higher quality of life. Aside from the stress relief more movement will provide, I’m in training to be able to sit still and write for longer periods.
  • As a news and politics junkie, I have sabotaged my mental health. I feed my busy brain with information I can’t use. I own two bone-conduction headphones, one for day, one for night. I wear them constantly to consume podcasts, audiobooks, and music. Nothing wrong with that in moderation, but I realize now how much is too much. I’m taking the headphones off to focus on reading more and writing more.

    In short, my best and biggest change is to guard my quiet time. I already have a negativity bias. I don’t need to feed it a high-caloric diet of atrocities in the present and fears for the future. Until I get that Iron Man suit, there’s not much I can do about that. So…

    PROTECT YOUR PEACE

    I’m in training to get back to being me. RIght now, I’m plagued with my identity as a patient. Can’t wait to focus more on being a writer beloved by perhaps tens of people!

    My next novel is a tale of vengeance that spans decades. Endemic was about how we change and how we don’t. This one is about how we won’t. Please stand by, and thank you for your patience.

    Looking for a great award-winning novel that’s criminally underrated this holiday season? Look no further. Please add Endemic to your shipping cart.

Available in paperback, hardcover, and ebook.

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One of My Favorite Bookstores is carrying Endemic

Years ago, before it closed, World’s Biggest in downtown Toronto was my shrine. Munro’s Books in Victoria is a lovely place to spend a few hours on a rainy afternoon. I remember stumbling across an amazing little bookshop in Glastonbury that made me want to move there.

Today, I have to put Fanfare Books of Stratford, Ontario in the spotlight. For one thing, they’re carrying Endemic. That’s evidence of great taste, obviously. They’ve carried my novels before, but there’s more to it than that.

Recently, She Who Must Be Obeyed and I took a couple of days off to escape to Stratford. It’s a sweet little town known worldwide for theater. It’s a small town, yes, but maybe you’ll look up, momentarily startled, to find Colm Feore passing you on the sidewalk.
Stratford has many quaint shops and restaurants along the main drag. It’s the sort of town where shops should be spelled shoppes.

What makes Fanfare different from other bookstores?

When I was a book rep for sixteen publishers in Toronto, chain stores often gave me the feeling that the book buyers’ tastes were miles wide and a centimeter deep. Fanfare is not a large store, but the curation is excellent. Lots of theatre books, of course, but you’ll find stuff that would be difficult to discover elsewhere. For its excellent stock, it’s the biggest little bookstore I’ve had the pleasure of browsing.

My latest buys from Fanfare: Mickey 7 by Edward Ashton, History’s Weirdest Deaths by James Proud, and Taste by Stanley Tucci.

Your next buy from Fanfare: Endemic!

~ If you can’t get to Stratford, click the links to the right to find all my books online.

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A Little Update for My Readers

Almost four weeks ago, I became a cyborg. Recently, I detailed my tribulations in a blog post called Waiting for Dawn on the Comeback Trail.

For those who missed it, here is the short story: My surgeon implanted me with a new left hip. Arthritis has plagued both my hips for more than a year. It’s a genetic thing. Other members of my family have also had total hip replacements. I will have the right hip replaced someday, as well, but that’s a Future Me problem. Please! Screw Future Me. Present Me is still dealing with the recovery process.

However!

I am getting better. Yesterday I entered our shower for the first time without using a transfer bench. I’ve walked around two stores in the last few days. Those adventures were brief, but I am building my stamina. The improvements feel incremental, but I do notice positive changes almost every day, and I am fanatical about performing all my rehab exercises. (Shout out to Melissa at Old North Wellness for her excellent skills as a physiotherapist!)

So:

I last pounded the keys on my current work in progress on March 30. (It’s a tale of revenge with lots of surprises, strategies for vengeance, and multiple endings.) My ordeal of reengineering my anatomy occurred on March 31. Today is April 30. Tomorrow, I will start writing again. I have been down, depressed, and anxious post-surgery, but I’m still in the game. Please stand by.

Dawn is coming.

~ In the meantime, geez, see all those books to the right? I have a bunch of great stories in my catalogue you will love. Award-winning stuff! Socks and shoes flying off and whatnot! Some may make you ugly cry, but there’s (almost) always a sprig of hope in each narrative bouquet. Click a link, read a book, be transported and transformed.